Reply to: BBC having problems with software

[OwlHoot]

I think you prob mean tranquillisers

I was thinking of something like ketamine, which sounds like a cross between the two and is probably easily available on the street.

[doodab]

It won't be long before they can automatically diagnose tourrettes using a machine that listens in while you're on hold.

[Platypus]

Shouldn't be too hard for an enterprising dole scounger to fool - Just neck a couple of anti-depressant tablets before phoning them.

I think you prob mean tranquillisers

[OwlHoot]

A quick google elsewhere suggests the technology is also being sold to the Politicos as a way to cut fraud with a system that alerts investigators when a caller sounds nervous ...

Shouldn't be too hard for an enterprising dole scounger to fool - Just neck a couple of anti-depressant tablets before phoning them.

[Platypus]

Tax avoidance = benefit scrounging - according to Nick Clegg

Cheeky bastard!

[Contreras]

HMRC are at it too:

... also looking at some new ways to deliver service ... a new form of telephone answering where you say something and the machine works out what you want...

BBC News - HMRC tax call handling 'must sharpen up' (mentioned about 40s into the video clip)

A quick google elsewhere suggests the technology is also being sold to the Politicos as a way to cut fraud with a system that alerts investigators when a caller sounds nervous - Tax avoidance = benefit scrounging - according to Nick Clegg. | AccountingWEB

[Bunk]

I throught this would be a a thread about their awful Iplayer software.

What's wrong with iPlayer? I use it regularly without any problems.

Edit: I use the web version, PS3 and iOS versions, all without any issue.

[Sysman]

Yep, on any ad-hoc speech rec, you're pretty much a lost cause. As are most people with non-standard accents.

That's why I find it much more rewarding to work on profile-based speech rec these days.

I thought of you when I saw this:

Apple Siri can't cope with "Chip butty" in Scottish

[xoggoth]

I throught this would be a a thread about their awful Iplayer software.

[OwlHoot]

Yep, on any ad-hoc speech rec, you're pretty much a lost cause. As are most people with non-standard accents. ..

Including most humans

[formant]

I hate voice technology.

I have some kind of hybrid English Welsh accent (almost got beaten up on 3 separate occaisions in Wales because they thought I was English, despite living in Wales my entire life), it seems to vary by word. I also speak quite quickly. I have been mistaken from everything from Scottish to Austrailian to African.

I have given up with the voice recognition unit in my car, with Siri (although that might just be rubbish) and I have never tried the Android google search thing but I am sure that will have no bloody idea what I am saying as well!!

Yep, on any ad-hoc speech rec, you're pretty much a lost cause. As are most people with non-standard accents.

That's why I find it much more rewarding to work on profile-based speech rec these days.

[MyUserName]

I hate voice technology.

I have some kind of hybrid English Welsh accent (almost got beaten up on 3 separate occaisions in Wales because they thought I was English, despite living in Wales my entire life), it seems to vary by word. I also speak quite quickly. I have been mistaken from everything from Scottish to Austrailian to African.

I have given up with the voice recognition unit in my car, with Siri (although that might just be rubbish) and I have never tried the Android google search thing but I am sure that will have no bloody idea what I am saying as well!!

[formant]

If they did have a problem they wouldn't go public with it.

My thoughts exactly.

[Mich the Tester]

Those chaps at Menwith Hill don't seem to have a problem with that kind of stuff but that said, the NSA has a bigger budget.

If they did have a problem they wouldn't go public with it.

[formant]

They deserved each other.

It's remarkable how much BS gets sold to gullible ejits in terms of speech technology. Take the Nemesysco Voice Stress analysis stuff for example. Lots of banks and insurance companies bought it (and many are still using it). Just like with your average polygraph, there's simply no science behind it (few good posts/articles here: Nemesysco | Phonetics at Stockholm University Blog).